U.S. shares had ended the day with small losses Monday, with investors taking their first chance to react to China’s cut to its 2012 growth estimate. Read more on Chinese GDP target.

Data out later Monday weren’t inspiring, with a gauge of euro-zone business activity falling into contraction territory in February. Read more on European PMI.

U.S. data showed a better-than-expected reading for the Institute for Supply Management’s non-manufacturing index, but orders to U.S. factories declined in January for the first time in three months. Read more on factory orders.

Monday’s U.S. numbers were just the start for this week’s data-heavy calendar, which culminates with U.S. nonfarm jobs data on Friday.

“I think that people are focusing very heavily on what’s going to happen with the U.S. jobs number on Friday. Up until now we’ve been mostly worried about Greece and oil, and this is the third man at the party,” said Andrew Sullivan, a strategist at Piper Jaffray.

As for the cut to China’s GDP forecast, Sullivan said: “I think some were slightly hopeful that [China] was going to maintain with 8% growth — being the lucky number. That would mean that we would have got more stimulus.”

With global growth back under the spotlight, commodity-linked firms weakened in Asian trading, after many key resource prices moved lower overnight.

Molten steel stocks

The cut in China’s economic outlook and indications the nation will scale back infrastructure spending weighed on steel makers across the globe, with U.S. Steel Corp.
X, -3.40%
ending down 4.7% in New York, and ArcelorMittal SA (MT)
MT, -2.95%
dropping 3.8% in Europe on Monday.

“If you believe there’s going to be a slowdown in China, and that they are maintaining all their tough policies on property, then there’s going to be less requirement for steel construction,” said Piper Jaffray’s Sullivan.

“Certainly with non-construction steel, specialist steels and the marine-type steels, the other thing to bear in mind there is that...if China is slowing down, there’s going to be less need for shipping as they are going to importing and exporting less.”

Asia-Pacific steel firms under pressure included OneSteel Ltd (OST)
OSTLF
down 3.4% in Australia, while in Seoul, Posco
PKX, -2.18%
shares were down 3.4% and Hyundai Steel Co.
HYNSY
lost 1.8%.

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